ReThink Orphanages to hold global Ethical Student Travel conference

ReThink Orphanages Network, in partnership with World Challenge and Save The Children are taking their recent Australian Ethical Student Travel conference global. Over March and April speakers from government, child protection and the travel and tourism industry will be discussing how the education sector can sustainably and ethically engage with vulnerable communities when travelling abroad for service learning or volunteering trips and to ensure that child protection is at the centre of decision making.

The event will be held in London – 6th March, Manchester – 7th March, Atlanta – 3rd April, Toronto- 6th April and Dubai at a later date.

In 2018, the Ethical Student Travel: Protecting Children and Communities conference in partnership with Save the Children, World Challenge, Intrepid, Forget Me Not, Monash University and ReThink Orphanages brought together the Australian education sector to explore responsible service and volunteering and the ethics of orphanage tourism, including the proposed Modern Slavery legislation.

According to ReThink Orphanages “overseas student travel, volunteering and service have exploded in popularity over the past decade. While schools and universities have the best of intentions – often these activities can cause unintentional harm to children and communities. In 2016, 14% of Australian schools had an association with an orphanage overseas, and over 50% of all Australian universities advertised orphanage placements as part of their international volunteering opportunities.”

The ReThink Orphanages Ethical Travel and Self-Assessment Toolkit was also launched at the Australian events. The toolkit is designed support teachers and schools when taking students overseas to ensure their trip is well managed and that a thorough risk assessment can be undertaken. This resource is not only for protecting vulnerable children but also covers ethical and responsible travel advice for trips ranging from construction to community engagement. This resource is user friendly with clear guidelines as well as practical good practice examples.